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Open Dialogues: Stories From the LGBTQ Community

Through a series of candid testimonials, Open Dialogues reveals the diverse coming-out narratives of seven Broward County residents who share their insights about love and family, threats and safe havens, being intimate in public, and the role of religion in the LGBTQ experience. Directed by Freddy Rodriguez, the film features poetry by Julie Marie Wade from her book When I Was Straight.

  • Freddy Rodriguez
    Director
    Malabar
  • Joy Satterlee
    Producer
    Executive Director, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood
  • Jeff Rusnak
    Producer
    Project Director, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood
  • Leo Sarmiento
    Producer
    Associate Producer, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood
  • Julie Marie Wade
    Key Cast
  • Michael Goodman
    Key Cast
  • Christine Walters
    Key Cast
  • Gary Keating
    Key Cast
  • Franchesca D'Amore
    Key Cast
  • Dan Bassett
    Key Cast
  • Omar Morales
    Key Cast
  • Jeff Rusnak
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 50 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 27, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    8,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Art and Culture Center/Hollywood
    Hollywood, Florida
    United States
    February 8, 2020
    South Florida
  • OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival
    Miami Beach
    United States
    August 20, 2020
    Official Selection, Best Short – Runner-Up (2021)
  • Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
    Fort Lauderdale
    United States
    October 23, 2020
    Official Selection/Best Broward Documentary
  • Miami Film Festival
    Miami, Florida
    United States
    March 10, 2022
    Official Selection
  • Orlando Film Festival
    Orlando, Florida
    United States
    October 30, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Saint Augustine Film Festival
    St. Augustine, Florida
    United States
    January 16, 2021
Distribution Information
  • Art and Culture Center/Hollywood
    Distributor
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Freddy Rodriguez

Freddy Rodriguez
66 Films, Inc.

Freddy Rodriguez is an EMMY®, TELLY®, and PROMAX/BDA® Award-winning filmmaker with numerous short films, music videos, commercials, promos, and branding videos among his credits. He has been writing, shooting, directing and editing creative video content for over 18 years. His latest short film Malabar is an “Official Selection” of the 2019 Miami Film Festival, an “Official Selection” of the 2019 Orlando Film Festival, an “Official Selection” of the 2019 Dumbo Brooklyn Film Festival, and won both the Audience and Judge’s award at Filmgate-Miami’s Not Moving to LA Film Festival (July 2019). Malabar was also acquired by HBO and is currently streaming on all of HBO's platforms.

In the early 2000s Freddy cut his teeth on producing promos and movie trailers at Manhattan Transfer/BVI for Lifetime, Bravo, MTV, and several Pay-Per-View channels. He later did a four-year stint as Senior Promotions Producer at NBC/Universal where he collected 15 EMMY® nominations, 7 EMMY® Awards, and 6 Gold and Silver PROMAX/BDA Awards for his promo and branding work.

In 2011, Freddy launched 66 Films where he’s produced a variety of content for: Norwegian Cruise Lines, Maaco, The Miami Dolphins, The United Way, Bank United, Passport Magazine, Visit Florida, Menieke and Noelle et Filles to name a few. As 66 Films, Freddy also garnered a FLAGLER Award and two TELLY’s Awards for his branding work for Passport Media and Visit Florida Travel Videos, and won another EMMY® nomination for his work with the Miami Dolphins.

Freddy’s short films and music videos have premiered at several film festivals nationally and internationally. In 2017 he directed and edited the music video "You'll Never Know" for Miles Windsor, which was an “Official Selection” at 21 film festivals, garnered several Merit of Excellence Awards, and won “Best Music Video” at the 2016 Orlando Film Festival and a 2016 Oregon Film Award at the Oregon Film Festival.

You can see Freddy’s work at: http://sixtysixfilms.com/

Links:
https://vimeo.com/sixtysixfilms
https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddyrodrigues
https://www.facebook.com/66Films/
https://www.instagram.com/66films/
https://www.facebook.com/malabarthemovie/

freddy@sixtysixfilms.com

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

It's a Director's job to help a film, be it narrative or documentary, to tell its story. In the case of Open Dialogues: Stories from the LGBTQ Community, it was my job to take seven stories and help tell them as efficiently as possible, while striving to keep the emotion authentic.

It's not often that I get impacted so deeply with a project. As a married gay man, who lives safely in a Miami suburb, I have become completely complacent of the LGBTQ struggle.

Working on Open Dialogues reminded me that hate and misunderstanding not only play a powerful role on how we are perceived as a community, but plays an even more important role in how we perceive ourselves as gay people. The stories in Open Dialogues are real, powerful and raw. Prepare yourself.